


End Of the World

by RandomWordsAndStormyDays



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, F/M, I Apologize For This, I should be working but instead I got feelings, I wrote this in like an hour, and I couldn't focus until I typed this up, no happy ending, ooooo boy is there a lot of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-07 02:15:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18401090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomWordsAndStormyDays/pseuds/RandomWordsAndStormyDays
Summary: Nora goes to the institute and finds information that suggests she might be a synth. How does she react to this news? How does Deacon, her partner turned lover?





	End Of the World

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in less than an hour, there is no beta reader, and all mistakes are my own. I was part way through the next chapter for my other fic Ain't That A Kick In The Head and I couldn't focus until I had this idea on paper.
> 
> Get ready for some angsty feels. I'm really not sorry.

It’s been three days since Nora went to the Institute using the hastily thrown together crayon drawings of a defected Institute scientist turned Super Mutant as a blueprint for a teleportation machine. It’s been three days since the Railroad sent their best agent on a trip she may never return from. It’s been three days since the Minutemen and the Railroad decided to work together against the horrors of the Commonwealth.

 

It’s been three days since Deacon could breathe properly. As soon as the blinding blue light of the teleporter flashed over the crowd and caused an explosion so loud seven people went deaf Deacon had started to have trouble functioning.

 

In the seven months that Nora, codename Whisper, had been a member of the Railroad he had somehow managed to fall in love with her. And by some cosmic force that Deacon didn’t understand, she had managed to fall for him too. He knew, without a doubt, that he didn’t deserve her.

 

He had spilled his heart and soul to her about Barbara, the Deathclaws, the lynching, and she hadn’t even batted an eye before telling him that none of that mattered. She had said that the only thing that was important to her was the man standing in front of her. She had said she loved him.

 

If Deacon hadn’t been two seconds from admitting the same thing, the confession might have sent him running. Instead he pulled her into him tightly, holding her like she might drift away. She had kissed him then, so gentle and so soft. Deacon struggled with kindness, too much and he fled. But kindness from Whisper? He couldn’t get enough.

 

That had been nearly two months ago. Two months of stolen kisses, undercover operations, and more love than Deacon ever thought he would deserve. Now he was at a loss. What was he supposed to do without her touch? How was he supposed to carry on when he wasn’t even sure she was alive? How was he supposed to smile if he wasn’t sure he’d ever see her again?

 

It’s been three days since Nora left when she comes home.

 

Deacon is standing in the bar she built with Maccready when a flash a blue light flickers off to his left and before Hancock can even question if it’s a play of the chems Deacon has taken off, sprinting towards the light. When he finally makes it to her it’s like he’s whole again, and he doesn’t have the energy to be scared of that. It’s too dark to properly see her, but the light from the moon gives him enough detail to see that she’s uninjured.

 

It takes him a second to place that she’s crying, as soon as he notices he reaches out and tugs her into him. She starts to cry harder, hot and salty tears soak the material of his shirt but he isn’t bothered. No matter what’s wrong he’ll fix it, but for now, he’ll be her shoulder to cry on. She tries to talk but he cuts her off.

 

“Not here, Whisp, let’s get you inside.”

 

She agrees, nodding her head sharply before allowing him to drag her into her home. He helps her down onto the couch and then runs over to the cabinets to get her a purified water. When he comes back she’s pushing at her cheeks, like the motion will stop the tears from pouring down. She accepts the water wordlessly and wipes again at her face. He hands her a hand towel and she uses it to dry her tears.

 

He pushes at her arm, encouraging her to drink, and she does so. She practically inhales the water, taking it in in deep gulps. When she’s finished she lets the can drop onto the coffee table.

 

“I’m not Nora.”

 

Her voice startles him, it’s broken and rough like she had been crying for a lot longer than the few minutes Deacon had seen her. What concerns him most, however, is what she said.

 

“What do you mean you’re not Nora?” His first thought is that this woman is a synth replacement from the Institute developed in the three days that Whisper has been gone. How close he is to the truth is almost scary, if it wasn’t so sad.

 

At his question, however, she once more bursts into tears and he pushes away all his theories in favor of pulling her into his lap and cradling her face against his neck. He tries to whisper encouraging things to her, but words fail him for the first time in forever, and he resorts to humming.

 

It’s a song she taught him when he caught her singing late at night when she was supposed to be sleeping. When he asked she told him that it was something her grandfather used to hum when he was putting her to bed. It makes her feel safe and calm. The music has the desired effect as she begins to go pliant in his arms.

 

Her sobs reduce to hiccups and he continues to hum until she speaks.

 

“The real Nora died four days after leaving the vault.” She spoke quietly, like she was worried she’d scare herself. “The Institute made me to replace her.” Her voice wavers and he tightens his grip on her body. “I found my own recall code, D.” He shudders at her admission and pulls back to look her in the eye.

 

“Are you sure?” The question seems to startle her because she pulls back from him. She looks hurt and he tries to figure out what he said wrong.

 

“Am I sure? Fuck what kind of question is that?” She shoves his arms off of her and moves away from him. He stands to follow her and she raises an arm. “Don’t. Just look at this.” She pulls a piece of paper out of her pocket and hands it to him. He unwraps it slowly and reads it in his head.

 

N0-R4, recall code Alpha Gama Charlie.

 

The words are right in front of him but they feel like a joke. He folds the paper and looks up at her. She looks terrified, like he’s about to blame her for the information she discovered. “Maybe they’re trying to trick you, we have no proof this is right.” He desperately wants to believe his own words, but he didn’t even know Barbara was a synth.

 

“We have all the proof we need.” It’s the first time since she returned that her voice doesn’t sound scared or sad. Deacon looks at her incredulously and she simply points to herself. “Read it and we’ll know the truth.”

 

“No.” She jumps at his firm response. “I don’t need to read it to know that it’s not true, Nora.” She shudders when he says her real name. “This isn’t real and I’m not reading it.” Before he can react she jumps forward and rips the paper from his hands.

 

“It’s not your decision to make.” He opens his mouth to respond but she bolts out the door. He lunges after her and catches his leg on the side of the table. He stumbles to the ground with a curse and lifts himself off the floor. He makes it out the doorway just in time to see her slip into the building she designated as the Minutemen HQ.

 

 _She’s going to ask Garvey to read it, she knows he’ll do whatever she asks_. This thought causes him to move faster and he shoves into the lower floor. The door slams against the wall with a loud bang and he searches desperately for a sign of Nora or Preston.

 

He spots a light on in the furthest back room and sprints towards it. He bursts through the door just as Garvey begins to read.

 

“Don’t!” The Minutemen Colonial looks up at him, startled. “Please don’t read that.”

 

Whisper is looking at him with murder in her eyes but all he can focus on is Preston’s hands wrapped around the piece of paper she had brought with her from the Institute.

 

“Deacon? General? What is going on?”

 

Deacon can feel his breaths coming in short but he refuses to think about it. “Nora thinks she’s a synth replacement, claims that’s her recall code. Wants you to read it and see if she really is.”

 

Garvey has the sense about him to look shocked and he turns to Nora. “General, is this true?”

 

Deacon has had the distinct pleasure of being on the receiving end of one of Nora’s anger-fueled missions only once, and that was the first day he had met her. He could recall vividly the way she had screamed in his face about stalking her all over the Commonwealth, she cursed his name and listed out every instance that she recalled seeing him.

 

Now though, all the anger seems to drain out of her in an instant. The tears were back and she wraps her arms around herself. She looks so broken and sad that he wishes she would scream at him instead. He tears his focus away from her to look at Preston.

 

“Listen, just give me the paper. I’ll toss it in the fire and we can forget tonight ever happened.” The Minuteman is looking at him cautiously and then he turns his attention back to Nora.

 

He takes that second to reach forward. He moves to grab at Garvey but she lifts her hand and pushes against his chest lightly. “Stop it! I know you’re scared,” she hesitates like she knows what she says next will break his heart, “I know after Barbara you’re terrified to be alone again, especially since we got together.”

 

He can feel his lungs constricting in his chest as she speaks. “Nora, please.” He practically gasps out his response to her and she curls her hand into his shirt.

 

“I need to know if I’m real Deacon.”

 

That breaks him. “You are real, this is real,” he slides his hand down her arm and pulls her into his embrace. She tucks her face back into his neck, a mirror of their position from earlier, “I can’t lose you. I can’t go through that again.” He whispers the confession into her ear as tears begin to form behind his eyes.

 

“If you’re right then nothing will happen,” his grip tightens, “if you’re wrong then…” She trails off and he knows that she’s thinking about her next words carefully. “If you’re wrong then we can build our relationship all over again. No matter who I am, or what memories I have, I’ll always love you, Deacon.” He feels the tears slipping over his cheeks but he ignores them in favor of burying his face in her hair, breathing her in.

 

Her arms wrap more tightly around his middle and he begins to shake. He’s thankful that Garvey hasn’t said anything, it’s hard enough to share this part of himself with Whisper, but it’s another thing to have someone else watch his breakdown. She leans up to his ear and he can feel her breath slide against the shell of it. “It’s time, Deacon.” If it were possible to do so he would have squeezed her even tighter, instead he lifts his head away from her and looks at Preston.

 

He nods once, shakily, and then tucks his head back down.

 

“N0-R4, recall code Alpha Gama Charlie.”

 

Nora goes limp in his arms and he lets out a choked sob. He supports her now dead-weight and clings to her as if he’d die if he let go. It isn’t until a hand lands on his shoulder that he realizes he’s not breathing. He sucks in a large breath and turns towards the hand. Garvey is looking at him with so much sympathy that it physically hurts.

 

Wordlessly Preston slides his arm under Nora’s limp form and helps him lay her on the couch. If he ignores the way her chest no longer rises and falls he could almost imagine she was just sleeping. He knows better, however, and he complete loses control. He crashes down onto his knees and can’t even be bothered by the pain that shoots through him. He reaches out to brush a finger over her cheek and he feels his heart shatter.

 

Garvey leaves him alone, shutting the door quietly behind him. Deacon stays next to Whisper’s body until the sun peeks in through the windows.

 

Five days after Nora’s trip to the Institute and Deacon finds himself standing in front of an older white haired man, nearly the spitting image of Whisper’s dead husband. Nora’s limp body is in his arms and he can see the Coursers pointing their weapons at him. He ignores them.

 

“Please,” he begs, “I’ll do whatever you want, anything at all, just bring her back.” He drops to his knees and cradles Nora’s body against his chest. “She never needs to know she’s a synth. I can keep a secret.”

 

The man steps forward, leans down, and places a hand on his shoulder. “I know you can keep a secret. I’ve known that since the day I created you, D4-C7.” A dizzying pain shoots through his skull and he tips forward, losing his grip.

 

The last thing he sees before darkness consumes him is the white haired man, grinning, like he’s in on the world’s biggest joke.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all liked this! Deacon is my baby and he doesn't deserve what I just put him through, but I have no self control.
> 
> If you enjoyed please leave a kudo, a comment, or come say hi on Tumblr. I am also Randomwordsandstormydays on there.


End file.
